Cracking the top 4

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October Review​

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Another hugely inconsistent month with great results against Man Utd and Newcastle, an unlucky loss to Everton and a really poor display against Norwich. As soon as we start a run of form, it grinds to a halt again.
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Arsenal now lead the way in the Premiership after their unbeaten start to the season, looks like that Higuain transfer did the trick. Liverpool have answered their critics and picked up their form and now it is Man Utd that are struggling slightly. The League is so close yet again with just two wins separating Europa League spots from the relegation zone. We sit smack bang in the middle, which after the start to the season we had is acceptable. Just two points away from Liverpool in 6th and a Europa League place.

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Once again we are absolutely bossing the Europa League and sit comfortably at the top of our group. If we can secure our qualification early then we can give some of the youngsters more of a run out.
Player of the Month​

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Sadio Mane has been our best player this month, putting in a string of high class performances to claim the player of the month award. Keep it up Sadio.
In further news this month, it is great news for Jay Rodriguez who managed to score his first international goal for England.

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November Preview​

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Starting XI - Rulli, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Fonte, Cedric, Bender, Clasie, Davis, Rodriguez, Mane, Pelle.

Disappointing again as we lose out away to Hoffenheim in Europe. Graziano Pelle grabbed a consolation goal but Hoffenheims two first half goals were enough to put us away. The bright side is that I think I might have noticed a pattern emerging which could be the first step to curing our woes.
 
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So as I mentioned in the previous post, I have been studying our form very carefully and have discovered the weakness in our gameplan which I am amazed I didnt spot earlier.

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Above you can see our home form in the League. Pretty **** good, the only loss being a narrow defeat to Chelsea which is acceptable.

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Our away record. Well, lets not go there. This needs to change and very soon. We need to alter our way of playing away from home seeing as our current tactic isn't working.
 
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Starting XI - Rulli, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Fonte, Cedric, Wanyama, Clasie, Davis, Tadic, Mane, Pelle.

A more defensive tactic, and just like that, an away win! against Tottenham no less! For the first time since I have been in charge at the club we completely surrendered possession and had no interest in playing well at all, we only had our eyes on the result. Two clinical Dusan Tadic goals on the counter attack blew Tottenham away, and one of the most impressive defensive performances I have ever seen saw us through.
 
That's exactly what Football Manager is all about and why it is so much fun, analyzing what goes wrong and then making it right. One swallow does not a summer make, but if the Spurs result is any indication you might fare a lot better away from home from now on.
 
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Starting XI - Rulli, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Koulibaly, Cedric, Wanyama, Ward-Prowse, Hesketh, Tadic, Mane, Pelle.

We follow up our win over Spurs with a convincing display at home against Aston Villa. Another two goals for Dusan Tadic underline the form that the Serb is in right now and Graziano Pelle picking up another goal made this a fairly easy match. After going 2 up I decided to switch to our defensive tactic and just see the game out which worked nicely and we even managed to nick the third on the counter attack.

What a difference a couple of wins makes.

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Starting XI - Stekelenburg, Targett, Van Dijk, Koulibaly, Tete, Wanyama, Davis, Hesketh, Insigne, Mane, Pelle.

A rotated side picked up a good win against Red Bull Salzburg to successfully secure qualification from the group stage of the Europa League. Kalidou Koulibaly score his first ever goal for the club and the only goal of the game as we edged the match to secure qualification. The only down side to our performance was Wanyama feeling the need to get himself sent off, although he can serve his suspension in the final group stage match and be back for the knockouts. This is now our third win on the bounce and also our third clean sheet in a row, good stuff lads.
 
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Starting XI - Rulli, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Koulibaly, Tete, Bender, Clasie, Davis, Tadic, Mane, Pelle.

This is actually a result I am really pleased with. Watford have been in really good form and broke our defensive gameplan immediately by scoring after just 90 seconds. Despite this the lads held their nerve and some excellent work from Ryan Bertrand forced the equaliser which went down as an own goal. Our ability to get back into the game and hold on away from home is really promising!
 
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November Review​

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In my opinion it has been a fantastic month! the loss to Hoffenheim was a tough one but we have qualified from the group anyway so no harm no foul. From then we have gone on a 4 match unbeaten run, conceding just one goal as we surge back into form. If I am right in thinking I have gone some way to solving our away form then this could be a turning point for the whole season.
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The table is starting to look much better now! 6th place as it stands as we are officially the best of the rest. Man United are in a spot of bother now although they are only 3 points behind us. Once again the table stays very close with just 5 points between 6th and 17th.

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Top of the Europa League group is an accomplishment. It would be nice to top the group for a favourable draw in the knockout round but we will have to see how we go against Mechelen in the last match of the group stage.
Player of the Month​
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Dusan Tadic has been a real monster this month chipping in with goals and assists including back to back braces in two consecutive matches. He has muscled his way back into the starting XI which has left the likes of Insigne on the sidelines.
December Preview​
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Starting XI - Rulli, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Fonte, Tete, Bender, Clasie, Davis, Tadic, Mane, Pelle.

Job done. Top of the group is secured in the Europa League and with a good display as well. Once again we used our new away tactic to try and get some more practice in with it and it worked a charm as we countered time and time again. Dusan Tadic scored yet another goal to continue his epic form and Sadio Mane grabbed the other.
 
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Starting XI - Rulli, Betrand, Koulibaly, Fonte, Cedric, Wanyama, Davis, Hesketh, Tadic, Mane, Pelle.

We are now on quite a roll! we took our time breaking down a stubborn Sheffield Wednesday side but we got there in the end. An own goal and Dusan Tadic netting yet another were enough to seal the deal. Long may this form continue.
 
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Starting XI - Rulli, Targett, Van Dijk, Coulibaly, Cedric, Wanyama, Ward-Prowse, Hesketh, Insigne, Mane, Pelle.

Perhaps a slightly disappointing result against Crystal Palace as we can only manage a point at home but it keeps our unbeaten run going which is up to 7 games now. Jake Hesketh continues his breakout season by scoring his first senior goal for the club. We will take it.
 
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Starting XI - Rulli, Bertrand, Koulibaly, Fonte, Cedric, Wanyama, Davis, Clasie, Tadic, Mane, Rodriguez.

A good display against City still wasnt enough to get anything from the game as City took the points. The game itself was scrappy and was decided in a midfield battle. Wilfried Bony managed to score the only goal of the ame mid way through the first half.
 
You've had a great run before finally losing to City so that is definately promising for the rest of the season, finishing on top in your Europa League group is also a great achievement. Here's hoping you'll get an easy draw.
 
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Starting XI - Rulli, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Koulibaly, Cedric, Wanyama, Clasie, Davis, Tadic, Mane, Pelle.

A really tough match against high flying Derby, but I am so proud of the boys after that comeback! Defensively we were very good, restricting Derby to nothing but long shots, but unfortunately they had brought their shooting boots and found themselves 2-0 up just after half time after two stunning efforts from long range. Staring down the barrel of a defeat we decided to start playing our own way again, trying to keep the ball and use it intelligently. This soon worked as Jordy Clasie latched onto a brilliant through ball from Insigne to grab one back, 15 minutes later Clasie did it again! poking home from close range. At that point we smelt blood and I made more attacking substitutions and very late in the game, Cyrus Christie handballed in the area and awarded us a penalty which Insigne dispatched no problems at all. Three more massive points.
 
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Starting XI - Rulli, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Koulibaly, Tete, Wanyama, Clasie, Davis, Insigne, Mane, Pelle.

The headline might say lucky, but there was nothing lucky about this. A perfect away performance see's us go to Anfield and come away with all three points. It sure as **** wasnt pretty but I think the fans appreciated the sheer grit and determination from the boys. Graziano Pelle gratefully latched onto a Steven Davis through ball early on to curl an effort into the far corner of the net and from then on, we put 10 men behind the ball, sat deep and narrow and held the line. The fans just love it when we get a result against Scousehampton!
 
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Starting XI - Rulli, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Koulibaly, Tete, Wanyama, Clasie, Hesketh, Insigne, Mane, Pelle.

The fans certainly enjoyed their boxing day fixture at St Marys as we totally dominated Sunderland and walked away with an easy win. Jake Hesketh opened the scoring with an absolute beauty early on before a Pelle double put it beyond doubt. Top notch stuff.
 
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Starting XI - Rulli, Bertrand, Fonte, Koulibaly, Tete, Reed, Clasie, Hesketh, Insigne, Mane, Pelle.

We saw almost grabbed the win against the league leaders and I would even go as far as to say we deserved it! Gonzalo Higuain nabbed a last minute equaliser to deny us that win but we would have been delighted with a point before the match, so its not the end of the world. A good end to the year! It was also great to see youngsters like Reed and Hesketh take it to a good Arsenal side.
 
Those are some great results! Seems like the away tactic is working really well. Bad luck with that Arsenal game as the stats suggest that you did indeed deserve to win it. Still a fantastic result though especially given how well that Arsenal are currently doing in the league.
 
TheOtherSpecialOne said:
Those are some great results! Seems like the away tactic is working really well. Bad luck with that Arsenal game as the stats suggest that you did indeed deserve to win it. Still a fantastic result though especially given how well that Arsenal are currently doing in the league.
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Thanks man! I think I have learned a lot tactically in this years FM, probably more than in any other FM. I'm adapting my approach and tactics constantly which I never used to do and it makes the game a lot more enjoyable. Attention to detail I suppose it is :)
 
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